Here's What's New With The July Xbox Update

Microsoft rolled out a new update for the Xbox One home console and for the Xbox app for the Android and iPhone mobile devices. All of this coincides with some major new changes that Microsoft has implemented into the Xbox ecosystem to improve and upgrade the experience on the home console.

Over on the Xbox News Wire, there's a detailed post on all of the new changes and updates that the Xbox has undergone for July. This includes the ability to upload custom Gamer Pics for your profile. Previously your Xbox Avatar was what showed up in your Gamertag profile page, but now you can put whatever it is you want in your profile picture. For people who really want others to see what they look like, the new custom profile pictures for the Gamertag might be a real enticing feature.

Pictures and custom backgrounds can be uploaded from your Xbox One, Windows 10 PC, or Windows Phone. Microsoft also suggests to "keep it clean", since the photo will be viewable by any and everyone throughout the Xbox ecosystem.

There's also the ability to now link the Xbox One power button and Xbox Live sign-in to the Xbox One controller. This will allow you to automatically turn on a console and automatically sign into Xbox Live with the press of a single button.

This is an unprecedented new feature for the Xbox One controller, enabling gamers to literally take their profile with them while on the go and log into an Xbox One console and auto sign-in to their Xbox Live profile with the simple press of a controller button.

You can setup the auto sign-in feature from within the Xbox One system settings. The July update patch notes explain that this feature is perfect for gamers who use the Design Lab and created their own custom controllers and want to make sure that they can easily sign in and play a game with their favorite controller with the tap of a button.

Microsoft also updated the co-streaming feature in Mixer, making it easier for multiple streamers to setup a multi-stream session where viewers can see a multi-screen view of all the streamers currently streaming in the same session. This also coincides with features like Minecraft's split-screen streaming compatibility for apps like Mixer.

There's also been updates to the discoverability of streams using the Club feature. Microsoft designed it so now it's easier than ever to find your favorite streamers on Mixer, and find the kind of streams that best suit your tastes.

One of the other major updates is being able to use the Xbox App for mobile devices to check out what games are available to play via the Xbox Game Pass, as well as use the LFG feature to find a group for your favorite games, from Halo to Gears of War. You can also use chat bubbles, Club chat, and also share posts via your social media circles within the Xbox Live network.

And finally, there's also an update for the Xbox Arena, allowing for players to create user-generated tournaments in games like Killer Instinct, and also see who is competing in the game as well as check out the tournament brackets. The July update for the Xbox One is up and available right now.